One Man's Trash (2 page)

TWO
Three weeks later…
Diamond
slid onto the stool at the small round table in the Pink  Baby lounge, in front
of the open windows near the entrance. The cool summer breeze tossed around her
curls that rested on her bare back. She looked around the dimly lit room. The
lounge had started to fill up as it approached the start of the show. Every
Thursday night was open mic night and a lot of unknown talent came out to
perform.
This was her first time hanging out in New York since her mom had left. Her mom
had kept her promise to help her
baby
get settled in for the past week. Diamond
hadn’t been to an open mic event since she’d left Atlanta and she hadn’t
performed at one in over a year. Butterflies tickled her tummy. Her first solo
performance ever. God she wished Ryan was here. He would take away all her nervousness.
She had to get over her shyness of performing alone in front of an audience.
“Kimmy.” Diamond waved her hand in the air to get Kimmy’s attention.
Kimmy waved back. She arrived at the table just as the waitress brought over
two Cosmos.
“Hey, girl.” Kimmy gave her a hug and a kiss on the cheek.
“Hey honey, how are you?”
Kimmy scooted the stool closer to the table and placed her clutch down beside
her glass. “I’m good. Can’t complain.” She sipped her Cosmo through a straw.
“Mmm, this is delish. Wow! Now I know where to come and get my Cosmos.”
Diamond tasted her drink. “Yeah, that
is
good. And I don’t like
everyone’s Cosmos. It’s so easy to make them too strong.” Diamond took another
sip. “But anyway, mom is gone so I wanted to come out and
finally
celebrate my move.”
“Cheers!” Kimmy held up her glass.
“Cheers!” Diamond lightly clanked her glass with hers, keeping eye contact as
she drank her fruity drink.
“So you all settled into your apartment yet?”
“Girl, my mom came and just took over. She was in her element. She painted my
living room and bedroom. She came up with this brown, yellow, and white theme
throughout the apartment. It’s actually very nice, I have to admit. Although I
appreciate her help, I’m happy to finally have the place to myself.”
“This is your first apartment! I’m so excited for you. I can’t wait to come
over for a sleepover!”
They toasted to the idea of having a sleepover like they used to do when they
were younger, but this time they wouldn’t have a curfew and they could drink
all the homemade margaritas they wanted.
“How is Auntie Jannie?” Diamond asked.
“Fabulous as always. I tell you, that woman is the coolest chick I know. We’ve
been having a ball. She got a lot of spunk in her to be almost sixty. Hey, we
should invite her to the sleepover!”
Diamond laughed. “I don’t mind. Auntie Jannie is a blast to be around.”
“So are you performing tonight?” Kimmy asked.
“Yes. Can you believe it?”
Kimmy shook her head. “I just want you to know, that I am proud of you for stepping
out on your own. You are very talented and the world is just waiting for your
genius to make an appearance. We need good writers like you and I’m not just
saying that because you’re my girl.”
Diamond smiled. “Thanks Kimmy.” She checked the time on her phone. “It’s almost
eight o’clock so the show should be starting soon.”
Just then a short brown skinned guy in a white t-shirt, cutoff denim shorts,
and black converse with no socks walked to the front of the room. Both his arms
were sleeved in tattoos. He whispered something into the ear of the band leader
before walking onto the stage. He had a microphone in one hand and a clipboard
in the other, obviously the host for tonight.
Diamond turned her body to face the stage for a better view. She would be
performing first. Might as well get it over with. If she watched any other
artists perform first it would only make her even more nervous and give her
enough time to talk herself out of performing.
“Okay ladies and gentlemen, thank you for coming out tonight. We are about to
embark on a great musical journey, so relax your mind, drink your cares away,
and get ready for some talented brothas and sistas to take the stage. Also,
while you are drinking your cares away, please make sure to tip our bartenders
and waitresses.”
The crowd laughed and clapped.
“Our first performer is a newbie to Pink Baby. She’s a songwriter from ATL by
the name of DeeAye. Please give it up for DeeAye everybody!”
Diamond swallowed the last bit of her drink. She looked at Kimmy.
Kimmy gave her a thumbs up. “Go head, Miss DeeAye, show’em how we Georgia
peaches get down.”
Diamond let out a shaky breath. She rose from the stool and walked toward the
stage. Afraid to look at any of the faces in the crowd, her gaze stayed on the
announcer. She concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other.
The announcer helped her onto the stage and handed her the microphone. That
Cosmo didn’t give her the liquid courage she’d thought it would. She probably
should’ve had two.
“Hi, everybody.” Her voice cracked. She cleared her throat. Anticipation hung
in the air. Diamond scanned the room, looking over all the judging eyes until
she found Kimmy’s face. Kimmy gave her a reassuring smile. Diamond smiled back
and took a deep breath.
“The song I’m going to sing is an original song called, I’m Stuck On You.”  She
wet her lips, allowing the melody from the band to resonate in her spirit. She
closed her eyes and imagined Ryan standing next to her.
When I take a breath
Baby it’s you I breathe
Now take a moment
Baby bring life to me
Her confidence rose with every word. The crowd swayed as she crooned.
When we walk together
With the sun beaming down
I step inside your shadow
Two become one now
I’m stuck on you, baby
I’m stuck on you…
She looked over the crowd. They gave her the feedback she’d hoped for. She
finished off the song with a strong ending and received a standing ovation.
“Great job! Give it up everyone for, DeeAye!” the announcer said into the mic.
Diamond bowed. A gentleman from the table close to the stage extended his hand
to help her step down. She thanked him, rushed back to her table and fell into
Kimmy’s embrace.
“Diamond, girl your heart is racing!” Kimmy caressed her back. “You can calm
down now sweetie, it’s over.
Diamond sat on her stool and gulped down the Cosmo that Kimmy had ordered while
she was on stage. “Whew!” She rested her hand on her chest. “I have never in my
life been so freaking nervous. I swear.”
Kimmy giggled. “Miss DeeAye, you were fantabulous girl! A true powerhouse!”
“Really?”
“Uh, hello? A standing ovation. I’m not the only one that thought so, honey.”
Diamond allowed herself to take in the moment. She
was
a powerhouse. She
did
get a standing ovation. This was a major accomplishment for her. She
wore a confident smile. “This is just the beginning.”
“Damn right! To new beginnings and following dreams!” Kimmy raised her cocktail
glass.
Diamond met her empty glass with hers. “To new beginnings and following
dreams!”
“I’ll drink to that!” Kimmy tossed back her Cosmo.
“Thanks for coming, Kimmy, it was helpful to see a friendly face in the crowd.
Helped ease my nerves a bit.”
“Girl, you were so good, I couldn’t even tell that you were nervous.”
“Excuse me,” a manly voice broke into their conversation.
A tall, sexy dred head stood beside Diamond. “Hi,” she said. His hair was
pulled back into a ponytail that stopped right at his shoulders. He smelled
woodsy, like incents.
“Hello, beautiful. I’m JT.” He extended his hand. Diamond shook it without
hesitation, never taking her gaze off his deep brown eyes.
“I’m Diamond and this is my bestie, Kimmy.”
JT offered his hand and a smile to Kimmy. She returned the gesture and they
shook hands. Kimmy’s smile faded as she retracted her hand. She had that weird
look on her face. JT didn’t seem to notice or if he did, he didn’t seem to
care.
He turned his attention back to Diamond. “I just wanted to come over and
introduce myself. You did an amazing job up there.” He angled his body as if he
was trying to block Kimmy out of the picture. Kimmy eyed him like a
disapproving mother.
“Thank you, JT. Are you performing tonight?”
“Yes, I’m about to go on stage next. Are you going to be here much longer, I
would love to finish our conversation.”
“No. No we’re about to leave actually.” Kimmy interrupted.
“Oh.” Diamond smiled apologetically. “I guess…I’m leaving shortly.” She cut her
eyes to Kimmy. Kimmy shot her a ‘don’t ask’ look. “Sorry, JT,” Diamond said.  
“Hey, no biggie. Why don’t I get your number and maybe we can keep in touch. I
would love to hear some more of your songs. Maybe you can give me some pointers
on how to write my own songs. You’re very talented.”
Diamond blushed. JT was beyond fine. He was the best looking guy that had
approached her in…ever. He was no Ryder of course, but he was a close second.
Why did she always do that? Compare every guy that approached her to Ryder? She
never dated Ryder so how he became the standard by which to measure up to was
beyond her.
“I would like that.”
“You have a pen and paper?” JT asked.
Pen and paper? Who uses pen and paper these days? “I don’t actually. Why don’t
you just put my number in your cell phone?”
“Oh, I don’t have one. I plan to get one soon though,” he added quickly.
“I see.”
“Why don’t I just give you my number, to my house phone?” He flashed a sexy
smile.
“Okay.” They exchanged numbers.
“I look forward to getting to know you better, Diamond.” He kissed her hand and
headed toward the stage.
Diamond looked at Kimmy who still had on her stank face. “What is it, Kimmy?”
“I can tell he’s a player by the way he kissed your hand. I don’t like him. I
got a bad vibe from him when I shook his hand.”
Diamond rolled her eyes. “Kimmy, you don’t even know the guy. He’s cute, he’s a
singer, and he’s cute. I just moved here, he’s the first guy to show me
interest in I don’t know how long, so I can at least give him conversation.”
“First of all, he’s not the first guy to show you attention in ‘I don’t know
how long’ less you forget, Byran. You just didn’t like Byran, so JT may be the
first guy that you are
attracted
to that has shown you interest in a
while. Second, he don’t even have a freaking cell phone. Who does that? And
third, I got a bad vibe, Diamond and you know how I take that very seriously.”
Kimmy swore she could read people’s energy. True, Kimmy had yet to be wrong but
JT was cute.  Byran did not compare. Byran was a geek, no offense to geeks,
hell she was a geek herself. But Byran made
geeks
look bad. He was a
real Steve Urkel. JT was charming, and cute and he had swag. So what if he
didn’t have a cell phone? He at least had
a
phone.
JT jumped onto the stage. “I hope everyone is having a good time tonight.” The
crowd responded with whistles and applause. “Good. I would like to dedicate
this song to my beautiful new friend, she knows who she is.”
Diamond blushed again. JT kept his gaze on her as he sang his own rendition of
Bruno Mars’ “Just The Way You Are”.
She faced Kimmy. “Kimmy, don’t give me that look. It’s just conversation. If nothing
else, at least I can get a free meal.” Diamond winked.

THREE
After a week of talking with JT on the phone Diamond agreed to meet up with
him. He invited her over to his house for dinner. She thought it was romantic,
Kimmy thought he was just being a cheapskate. Kimmy had taken on the “mommy”
role since Diamond had started talking to JT. She requested JT’s full name,
address and phone number before she was comfortable with Diamond going to his
apartment. Her reasoning was that Diamond barely knew him and she didn’t trust
him.
Kimmy promised to text her every thirty minutes to check on her and if Diamond
didn’t respond she was calling the cops. Kimmy never broke her promises.
Diamond cabbed it to JT’s house in Brooklyn. It was a thirty minute ride. He
lived in the basement of a two family house. The houses in New York were
entirely too close together. Diamond couldn’t imagine not having a full yard.
If she did decide to live in New York permanently, she wouldn’t raise a family
in the city. Her kids would need to have room to run around and play without
the risk of getting run over by a speeding car.
It was dark when she reached JT’s apartment. He waited for her outside. She
opened the car door.
“Hey, the fare is twenty dollars,” she said.
“Oh, I don’t have any cash on me. Can you get this and I’ll get it the next
time.”
Well this was a first. He invited her over, insisted she took a cab, but then
expected her to pay the fare. Interesting. Diamond didn’t say anything. She
paid the fare with her credit card and exited the cab. JT kissed her on the
cheek and led her down the concrete stairs into the basement. A few bugs buzzed
around the light above their head.
They stepped into the small entryway with a white tiled floor and removed their
shoes. A huge air conditioner rattled above her head in the only window in the
apartment. She followed JT down the short hallway, passed a bedroom, and
entered the living room slash kitchen. The floor was carpeted in this area with
the type of carpet that you would find in an office building. It wasn’t plush
like the kind in her bedroom at her parents’ home, that she would bury her toes
in but it was clean enough that she didn’t mind walking around barefoot.
“Welcome to my humble abode. Have a seat.”
Diamond sat on the black futon. This was your typical bachelor pad. Minimum
furniture and no decorations. Her mom would love to get her hands on this blank
canvas. Instead of a big screen T.V. like most guys would have, JT had a big
computer desk set up with two monitors.
“Why do you have two computer monitors?” Diamond asked as JT fumbled around in
the kitchen.
“Oh, it’s my work station for my music. My little home studio. Would you like
some wine?”
“Yes, sure. Thanks.”
JT held out a wine glass filled close to the brim. Was he trying to get her
drunk? He winked when she took the glass from his hand. Yeah, he was trying to
get her drunk.
“Thanks, JT. So tell me more about your music.” Diamond placed the wine glass
on the floor beside her foot after taking a small sip. She had no intentions of
drinking too much, she didn’t know JT
that
well.
He entered the living room. “Well what would you like to know, Miss DeeAye? How
did you come up with that name anyway?”
“It was easy actually. My name is Diamond Anderson, so I just spelled out my
initials. D.E.E for D and A.Y.E for A. DeeAye.”
“I like that. Smart and beautiful. Not to mention very talented.” He brushed
her cheek with his finger. Diamond’s face tingled with his touch.
“How long have you been singing?” he asked.
She wet her lips. “Since I was a little girl. I’ve been writing my own songs
since I was fourteen. The night at Pink Baby was my first time performing solo.
I normally have my best-friend perform with me.”
“Who? The girl that was with you that night?”
“Kimmy? No. My best-friend, Ryan.”
“Your best-friend, Ryan. Is this an ex turned best-friend?”
“No. We grew up together. Strictly platonic.” JT gave her a
yeah-alright-if-you-say-so look. “Seriously.” She smiled.
“I didn’t say nothing. I just know I would have a hard time just being your
friend.” He flashed a devilish smile. “So you told me that you work for a
record label, how is that coming along?”
“It’s going well. I’m hoping that I can get some of my songs into some of their
artists’ hands. That would definitely put me on the map.”
“Are they looking for new talent?”
“I’m sure they are. I work on the artist management side, so I have close
relationships with the newly signed artists.”
“What would I need to do to get a meeting with the head huncho?”
“They normally ask for a demo. You should try to get a least three good songs.
Original songs. It would also help if you have a huge following of your own
like on Youtube or something. They have to know that they can make money on
you.”
“Do you think that you can help get me a meeting?” He inched closer to her.
“I can try.”
JT inched a little closer. They were hip to hip. Diamond held her breath. He
leaned in until his face was inches from hers. “Diamond.”
“Yes?” she whispered. She moistened her lips, preparing for his kiss.
“I would like you to sing for me. Do you mind?”  He stood from the futon and
held out his hand.
She released a slow breath. Normally the guy serenaded the girl but okay. She took
his hand and joined him at his computer desk. “What do you want me to sing?”
“Whatever is in your heart.” JT pushed a few buttons on his computer. Different
screens popped up. “I’m going to record it and we can play it back. You ever
recorded yourself?”
She had a long time ago, for a very special someone. “Yeah, once,” she said.
“Okay, whenever you’re ready.”
Diamond inhaled deeply. She let the words caress her tongue as they flowed out
of her mouth.
I have a desire for you

Built
up inside

A
passion for you

That
I try to hide

I have this feeling that just won’t go away

A
feeling, I admit, I want to stay

I
become overjoyed
whenever you speak

My
heart aches for the love
only you can give me
I have a desire for you

Built
up inside

A
passion for you

That
I try to hide
The feeling came so quickly

No
warning, no sign

After
only minutes

You
were locked into my mind

No
matter how hard
I try to

I just can’t deny my love
for you
JT
stopped the recording once Diamond finished singing. He hit the play back
button. Her sultry tone filled the air. “Wow, that’s crazy,” she said. It
sounded better than when she recorded herself in her bedroom. Not to mention
her voice had matured from the seventeen-year-old version of that song.
“I like your tone. Very sexy and intoxicating.” JT pulled Diamond onto his lap.
“Did you freestyle that?”
She stared into his big brown eyes feeling more comfortable with him than she
had expected to be. “I actually wrote that for someone years ago. My first love
actually, so it’s very sentimental to me. Which means, you definitely have to
delete that. I don’t want that floating around.”
“Oh, no doubt. Don’t worry about that, I’ll delete it.” He eased her hair
behind her ear. “You are so beautiful.”
Diamond bit down on her lip. JT pulled her face closer to his and kissed her. A
tingling sensation traveled from her lips down to her toes. His mouth continued
to caress hers as his hands massaged her thighs.
After what seemed like forever they finally broke for air. “Mmm, beautiful,
talented, and a great kisser. I definitely got to keep you around.”
Diamond grinned. She hadn’t been this attracted to a guy since Ryder.
“So when do you think you can get me a meeting with your boss?”
Her grin faded. Weren’t they just setting a mood here? “Oh. Well. I don’t know.
I will have to check with my boss and see when he’s available. He’s very busy.
But he values my opinion a lot.”
“Awesome, we should definitely make that happen. Okay?” He kissed her lips
smothering any verbal response. He moved from her mouth and covered her neck in
hot kisses.  
Her head fell back in response to his mouth’s gentle caresses. An overwhelming
heat rushed through her body. His wet tongue traveled from her collarbone to
her neck to her chin where it stopped. She opened her eyes and looked into his.
“Okay, baby?” It was more of a command than a question. He gently nipped at her
earlobe.
Diamond closed her eyes and tried to hold on to her composure. “Okay,” she
breathed.
#
# # #
In the following weeks Diamond and JT became closer. He called her his
girlfriend now. They say it takes, normally, three to six months to really get
to know someone and to know if that person would make a great boyfriend or
girlfriend. But in her case, for the past month, she’d spent every day with JT,
so it was normal for things to move faster. Right?
Let Kimmy tell it, no it wasn’t normal. Nothing was normal for Kimmy when it
came to JT. She still held onto that “bad feeling” she got the first night they
met.  Right now things were going good with her and JT and she wasn’t about to
let Kimmy’s “feeling” keep her from having a guy that was totally into her. Her
mother always said, you can’t live your life trying to please everyone.
JT needed a demo to present to her boss, Philip, at Tri Records so being a
great girlfriend she volunteered to help him with the songs. She wrote the
lyrics and he sung. He was very good at producing beats for the tracks, but her
words brought the songs to life. She carried a sense of pride these days. Her
dream of being an award winning songwriter seemed closer than ever.
Today she would approach Philip about meeting with JT. She waited until now
because she wanted to have at least one track done and polished just in case he
wanted to meet with him right away.
Diamond knocked on Philip’s glass door to his office. He motioned for her to
come inside.
“Diamond, what can I do you for?” he asked, as he typed.
“Sorry to bother you, Mr. James, I wanted to speak with you about a new artist
that you may be interested in. A friend of mine.”
Philip looked up from his computer screen. “Sit and tell me about this friend.”
Diamond took a seat as instructed. “Well, his name is JT and he’s very
talented. I’ve been working with him on a few songs and he’s good. I told him
that I would talk to you to see if you were willing to meet with him but I made
him no promises. He normally does covers at local spots and he has a large
following on YouTube.”
Philip rubbed his chin. ”Does he write his own songs? We would like to have
some original material. But if he’s as good as you say that he is then, we
could make an exception.”
“I’m actually helping him with some songs. We have one track done and we are
working on a second one.”
They sat in silence a few minutes while Philip responded to an email. “Well, I
tell you what. I trust your opinion. If you say he’s good, then I’m willing to
do him a favor, for you. I will get Patrice to set up a meeting with the both
of you in a few days. I’ll listen to his demo and go from there.”
“Oh, thank you so much, Mr. James! You won’t regret it, I promise!” She shook
his hand and hurried out.
When she reached her desk she texted JT:
Hey
I got great news! I’ll
bring lunch by later when I get off at one o’clock and fill you in! -Dee